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Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006

More than anything else this is a cozy get-together. There’s nothing scientific or precise about a handful of stories I selected to share with you as we take an early walk down 2005’s memory lane.

That is maybe best illustrated by the very first story that came to mind when I thought about doing a “Year in Review” type article. It’s my personal favorite for 2005. Maybe if I would carefully go through all articles once again something else would come up but this story marked itself, for me, in that off the top of my hat I can recall it: bang, that’s my lead, I thought.

Top-pick of the Year 2005

Police in the UK received a phone call: dad reporting that his 10 year old daughter had just lost Tyrone out of the car window. Tyrone being a plushy toy tiger, mind you…
Amy was thus shown that dad took matters seriously but you can forgive dad for thinking nothing would come of his call, right? I mean, we got serious business to attend to!
The call was taken seriously none the less and a radio bulletin went out. Police constable Al Cuthbertson, who has kids of his own and understands the child-plushy toy attachment, kept a close guard on the part of the M11 he patrolled. Not long after he spotted the toy. A rolling roadblock was setup so the officer could get out safely. Tyrone was “successfully captured and placed securely in the back of Golf Tango 23.” A telephone call later Amy and her plushy friend were united.

That, to me, was the most heartwarming good news of 2005. Maybe you remember another story?

The Good news archive is an easy way to browse stories by year, month, or per category. Every so often I just dive in there and enjoy myself with the many good news stories published.

When I went back to the archives to have a look at 2005, these stories caught my attention. It’s really an informal pick. Like I said, this is just us sitting down and chatting about some 2005 “stuff”. Talking about that, if a story touches you I would really like to hear about it. You can easily reach me directly via this contact page. I try to respond personally to all email and usually do so within say 36 hours or so.

Some of my picks for 2005

• Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was an incredible event, an incredible disaster. Sure, we’ve seen it all on TV happening elsewhere in the world but somehow the USA being hit by such a natural disaster felt different. More real? I don’t know. But pretty soon after the disaster struck I had to start a dedicated category for it because the outpouring of good news between all that misery was as amazing as the event itself. From all the stories, from a man who builds a house and gives it away to the chef cook who fed 700 out of his RV, the one headline that best illustrates the heartfelt support for the Katrina victims was “volunteer hotline overwhelmed: needs to pull the plug“. A deluge of over 8000 calls to the Greensville volunteer hotline in just under 72 hours time simply overloaded the administrative side of things.

Scale doesn’t matter when helping people but it was impressive to learn that Mercy Ships International operates 3 hospital ships, one of which is the world’s largest floating non-governmental hospital, with three fully-equipped operating theatres, a dental clinic, an X-ray unit, CT scanner and a laboratory. They’re staffed by volunteers, have performed over 18 thousand surgical operations, provided 2 million services and thus impacted positively the lives of over 5.5 million people. Their field of operation: Africa.

Sure, you say, but what else can you do? If you pawn the stuff you get arrested.

OK, I give you that one. But how about this one then? You’re homeless. You live with your five children in a shelter from the Salvation Army. Then one day you find an envelop with $800 in cash and paychecks in them. So what do you do? You return them. That is what 24 yo Canesha Blackman did; “People ask me, ‘What were you thinking? If it was my money, I would be crying if I didn’t get it back.”

Of course it is also the section for everyday heroes. People like you and me who stepped up when needed. What to think of the men who jumped on the subway tracks to drag a woman away from an oncoming train?

• Miracles If you were to believe the traditional media a “controversial” category. I often don’t have the time to fully edit these stories but more often than not they are presented as a “miracle”: with double quotes. As if it isn’t so…

• The Point I think you get the point… 2005 was a year filled with good news, amazing stories. And I can do it no justice by hand picking a few stories here and there. Whether you’re new to the site or have been a frequent visitor, I hope the above sampling has inspired you to come back for more or to re-read some past stories.

2006 will definitely bring a true year review. In fact, at this ungodly hour (2:40 AM) that is precisely what I’m working on; putting things in place that help us, you and me, to spot the best stories.